Lux strode through the halls of the Institute of War on the way to her room. The meeting had been uneventful after her little explanation. Garen had only nodded and stared at her for a while. Lux was surprised that he hadn't berated her or anything and wondered if he was planning something, but decided she would take the small victory and not worry too much about it.
The rest of the time had been spent planning for Prince Jarvan's birthday festivities. While Lux always forced on a bubbly and outgoing attitude at public parties, she secretly despised them. Too many misinformed, love-struck people all wanting a piece of her time.
Arriving at her room, she opened the door and stepped into her little corner of the Institute of War. Most prominently sat a large two-piece sofa and loveseat, flanked by a kitchen on the left and her bedroom on the right.
Connected to her bedroom was a small bathroom and shower. Deciding that a shower sounded like a good idea, she quickly started the water and stripped down. She stepped into the scalding water - just as she liked it - and immediately felt her mind and body start to relax.
She just stood there for a while, letting the water run over her body. She tried to imagine all of her worries as chunks of dirt on her body and let the water wash them away too.
This was a technique she had used since she was a small child. The shower had been her one escape from the scrutinizing eyes of her parents, her mentors, and the public. Here, she need not put on any mask or artificial attitude.
She looked down at her hands and found her fingers had already started to prune. Sighing, she knew she couldn't remain in the shower the rest of the day and quickly washed her body and hair.
Stepping out of the shower, she hard a knock on the door. *Odd,* she thought, *I rarely get any visitors.*
Quickly wrapping a towel around herself, she walked to the door and opened it. There stood Riven, who raised an eyebrow at Lux's current clothing.
"Catch you at a bad time?" She asked.
"I-I, uh, just got out of the shower," stammered Lux, who felt a blush coming to her cheeks. "Please, come in."
Riven smiled and did so, looking around her to survey Lux's small space.
"Let me go get dressed. Feel free to help yourself to whatever's in the kitchen and make yourself at home." Lux smiled and left Riven to herself, going into her bedroom and closing the door.
She strode around her bed to her dresser on the far side of the room. Opening the top drawer, she selected a pair of casual white gym shorts and a light forest green t-shirt. In the second drawer she extracted a set of underwear.
She dropped her towel and dressed then walked into her bathroom. She hastily brushed out her hair, leaving it to dry in the air. She generally didn't like blow-drying her hair, instead preferring to let it dry naturally.
Satisfied, she walked out through her bedroom and opened the door to her living area. Stepping through the doorway, she noticed Riven reclining on the loveseat. Smiling to herself, Lux crossed the room and stood next to her friend and lover.
Noticing her partner's soft and even breathing, she whispered, "Riven? Are you awake?"
Riven's lack of response confirmed her suspicion. Still smiling, Lux sat down on the arm of the chair and softly pushed Riven's bangs off her face. You must have been really tired, she thought to herself, or else you're just really good at falling asleep. Lux herself had been one of those people that could not fall asleep within thirty minutes of laying down unless she was tired as a rock. She sat like this for a few minutes, content to just stroke the other woman's hair and observe her sleeping form.
Eventually, she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Riven's forehead before standing up once again to re-position herself. Very slowly, making sure that she didn't wake the other woman, she lowered herself into the chair against Riven's side. Snuggling into her chest, Lux placed Riven's arms around her in a silent embrace and curled up in the little space the chair offered. Lux smiled to herself, thinking about how utterly surreal it was to be in this position, with the woman of her dreams.
Speaking of dreams, she thought to herself, why don't we get some rest. Lux was sound asleep in less than five minutes.
~~0~~
When Riven woke some hours later, she found herself being squished into the side of the chair by something. Groggily opening her eyes, Riven looked down and found a mop of blonde hair cascading over her. Riven heard her stomach growl and giggled, realizing how hungry she was. It must have been at least seven or eight at night by now, past her usual dinner time.
Attempting to extract herself from the embrace, she ended up waking the offending party, who was apparently a light sleeper. Lux lifted her head and Riven couldn't help but smile when she saw the groggy look on Lux's face.
"You look just a bit tired there, camper," she teased. "Did you not sleep well?"
With more sincerity than Riven expected, Lux smiled and said, "I've never slept better, love."
Riven's stomach growled loudly again and Lux laughed, pushing herself up to encase Riven's lips with her own. Their kiss lasted a few seconds before Lux pulled away and said, "A bit hungry there, are we? Let's see what we can do about that."
With that, Lux pushed herself off of Riven and walked into the kitchen. Riven fell back into the chair, not really wanting to get up, but was soon forced too because of her need to use the restroom. Reluctantly rising from the chair, she crossed the room to where Lux's bedroom was and opened the door. She stepped into the new room and surveyed the area. It was a small space, the same as hers, with just enough room for a bed, a dresser, and a little chair opposite the bed. There were few decorations in the room, the main ones being a Demacian flag and a picture of her as a child hanging on the wall. She walked over to Lux's dresser to inspect more closely and noticed a few pictures on display. There was one of the entire Crownguard family when Lux was a child, one of who Riven assumed was Lux's mother because of her striking resemblance, and another of Lux and her Brother garen from not too long ago, both dressed in their battle attire, the same clothes they wore on the Fields of Justice.
She then moved into the bathroom, which was entirely undecorated. It is odd, Riven mused as she sat on the toilet, to not have any decorations at all in the bathroom. Most I've seen have at least a piece of art opposite the toilet. Perhaps Lux just isn't one for decoration.
When she was done, Riven walked into the kitchen. Lux was busy cooking something on the stove on the opposite side of the small kitchen. Riven strode up behind her, her bare footfalls silent on the tile. She snaked her arms around Lux's waist as to not inhibit the woman's ability to cook and rested her chin on the shorter woman's shoulder.
"Whatcha making?" She asked quietly, practically whispering into Lux's ear. She felt Lux shiver slightly as her breath made contact with Lux's ear.
"Nothing fancy, just some Mac 'n Cheese," said Lux, "comfort food sounded good to me, and I didn't really want to go to the mess hall tonight."
"Mh, sounds good to me too."
Riven watched as Lux stirred around the contents of the pot in front of her one more time before setting down her cooking spoon and turning around in Riven's embrace. Tilting her head up, Lux placed a soft kiss on Riven's lips before settling into her chest.
"I still don't believe it some times," said Lux softly into Riven's chest.
"Don't believe what?"
"That this has worked out. That I'm with you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Riven took one of her hands from Lux's back and moved it to her head, slowly stroking her hair. They remained that way for a couple minutes, both just enjoying the closeness with one another.
The harsh sound of an alarm made both women jump. Riven furrowed her brow in worry and looked around, wondering what was wrong. Lux giggled.
"That means the food's ready, silly," she said, shaking her head at Riven.
Riven blushed in embarrassment, but was cut off again before she could reply. "Go get us some bowls and sit down. I'll bring over the food in a minute."
Riven nodded and Lux extracted herself from her embrace. Turning around, Riven checked the few cabinets in the kitchen, which were mounted against the wall that divided the kitchen and living area. Inside the one mounted against the corner, she found the bowls and took two of them. Repeating her earlier process, she looked through the draws beneath the counter that were in front of her. Finding the silver wear, she took two spoons as well. Walking out into the living room, she set the two bowls and spoons down.
Returning again to the kitchen, Riven grabbed a couple glasses out of the cabinet she had noticed them in before.
"Do you want something to drink, Lux?" She asked.
"I'll have umm… I guess I'll just have water."
Nodding to herself, Riven proceeded to check the fridge for what drinks Lux had, which were not many. She saw a gallon of milk, a gallon of water, and a carton of orange juice. Riven had always liked milk, it had been something she was able to drink as a child other than water, and had grown to love it over time. Taking out the gallon of milk, she poured a glass for herself then pouring some water for Lux, she took the drinks to the table. She sat down on the couch and leaned back, closing her eyes and inhaling the heavenly smell that permeated the house. Oh how hungry she was.
Soon Lux walked in with the pot of food she had been nursing and set it on the table over a hot pad. She took a spoon full and set it in her bowl before handing the serving spoon over to Riven, who followed suit. Both women sat in silence, too hungry to do anything other than eat. Lux's appetite was filled long before Riven's, who took the chance to take a second and third spoon of food from the pot. Eventually her appetite was sates as well, and she leaned back into the couch.
Riven noticed Lux move to clean the dishes from the table and sat up to help her, taking her dish into the kitchen. The small space didn't have room for a dishwasher and so the two had to manually wash their dishes. This was no special chore for either, who were used to doing so from their time spent in the military.
When the task was said and done, and the table wiped, Riven again reclined on the couch. She yawned and closed her eyes, nestling her head back into the couch as if to go to sleep. She was interrupted however as a hand touched her face and another grabbed her hand, tugging lightly as if to get her to follow. She opened her eyes and saw Lux motioning to her bedroom.
"It is nine o'clock, we might as well go to sleep for the night," she said, gently tugging on Riven's hand again.
Riven complied, standing up and walking into Lux's bedroom. She took off her boots and sat on Lux's bed, sitting against the head board. Lux walked to her dresser and took out some piece of clothing then went into her bathroom to change. Lux's bed was pretty large, just as every other bed in the Institute of War. Riven decided to slide down under the covers and occupied a very small portion of the right side of the bed.
When Lux emerged from the bathroom she wore a loose fitting nightgown. She raised her eyebrow and smirked at Riven.
"What?" Said Riven.
"You aren't seriously going to sleep in your normal clothes are you?" Said Lux in an amused tone.
Riven shrugged. "And what else would I sleep in?"
"Well this is the only nightgown I have, but you could just sleep in your underwear. We are both women." Lux kept her eyebrows raised the entire time, and smiled toward the end.
Riven wore a mortified expression on her face.
"Oh come on silly, it's not that big of a deal," said Lux with an exasperated expression on her face and her hands on her hips.
Riven gulped, a blush rising in her cheeks. "Alright, if you insist." She rose from the bed and walked into the bathroom, removing her clothes and checking to make sure her wrappings were intact underneath. She used the restroom and took a deep breath before opening the door to find Lux lying on her side in the middle of the bed. *Her eyes are closed,* she thought to herself. Riven let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
She silently stepped over to the bed and slowly slid under the covers, careful not to disturb Lux. Settling in to her little part of the bed, she let her body relax and settle into the bed. A few seconds later, Lux turned over and harrumphed.
"Well you're no fun at all," complained Lux, who had turned around to face the back of Riven. Riven felt a hand grasp her shoulder and pull it down, turning her around so that she was facing Lux. A smile spread across Lux's face at Riven's bewildered look, and she wrapped her arms around the larger woman, snuggling into her chest once more.
Riven stiffened for a few seconds at the sudden move, but then slowly wrapped her arms around Lux as well. She leaned her head down and placed her head against Lux's, inhaling her earthy scent.
"I love you," she purred quietly into the other woman's hair, surprising herself.
Lux pushed herself closer, snuggling even further into the comfort of Riven's body.
"I love you too, Riven."
~~~0~~~
A/N: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed. Not much real plot development here, but it does put a few small ideas that will be used later into play. I tried to make this chapter longer to make up for the very short first chapter, which is really mostly a prelude now in my opinion. I only read through this once, so sorry for any glaring errors!
As always, please review. I would love to hear what you think so that I can get better!
Termhn
